HOCKLEY, Texas – The No. 2-ranked and top-seeded Oklahoma men's golf team opened pool play at the Big 12 Match Play Championship with a pair of wins over West Virginia and Iowa State on Friday. The Sooners sit atop their group after the opening day of the championship, which is held annually at The Golf Clubs at Houston Oaks in Hockley, Texas.
A trio of Sooners went undefeated on day one, taking the momentum from the team's season-opening win at Colonial earlier in the week and applying it to their matches today. Head coach Ryan Hybl's team ended the day with a pool-high six points, three from each win, and their hole differential was a field-high plus-33.
"It was a really solid start for us today, coming away with two wins," Hybl said. "Our guys didn't give up very many holes, which I thought was key and we made just enough birdies to get out in front. Tomorrow's match with Baylor will be a great one and we're looking forward it."
In the morning session, the Sooners squared off with No. 8 West Virginia and secured a 5-1 match-play victory, as the Oklahoma lineup took control early and led wire-to-wire. In the afternoon match versus No. 9 Iowa State, Oklahoma was tested early but came on strong around the turn, solidifying a 4-1-1 win over the Cyclones. The Sooners' nine and a half match points are the most in the field after two matches.
Patrick Welch shined on Friday, starting perfect after winning 7 and 6, and 4 and 2 versus Kurtis Grant and Frank Lindwall, respectively. The junior's 11 holes won across the two matches were the most among all golfers in a field that featured nine of the Big 12's 10 teams.
Fresh off a win at Colonial, Logan McAllister continued the strong start to his junior campaign. The Oklahoma City product defeated both West Virginia's Olivier Menard and Iowa State's Brock Barnhart by a score of 5 and 4, to start his championship with a 2-0 record. Jonathan Brightwell joined McAllister with an unblemished record, beating WVU's Jackson Davenport 5 and 4 in the morning, and ISU's Lukas Pany via a score of 3 and 2 later in the day.
Garett Reband made his season debut in the afternoon match when he teed off against Ricky Costello from Iowa State. The Sooners' All-American won the match 2-up after extending his lead on the final hole at Houston Oaks.
Quade Cummins opened the event with a 3 and 2 win over West Virginia's Logan Perkins. The redshirt senior halved his afternoon match with Iowa State's Tripp Kinney after winning the 17th hole to even things up. Tucker Allen took his first match by a score of 6 and 5 over the Mountaineers' Will Stakel, but dropped his afternoon battle versus ISU's Lachlan Barker.
Thomas Johnson fell 3 and 1 in the opening match to West Virginia's Mark Goetz.
This is the third year that the Big 12 Conference has hosted the event, employing the same format that is used to determine the NCAA Men's Golf Championship. The event is played over three days consisting of pool play for five sessions followed by a championship round set for Sunday afternoon. Each round is played in match play format.
The Sooners have only one match tomorrow, as they'll tee off against the No. 5-seeded Baylor Bears (1-0) at 8 a.m. CT. Oklahoma then wraps up pool play on Sunday morning vs. No. 4 TCU, followed by the final round on Sunday afternoon versus the corresponding seed in Pool B.
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October 03, 2020 at 07:15AM
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Sooners Start Perfect at Big 12 Match Play - University of Oklahoma - Soonersports.com
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